I’m writing this in gedit, and going to post it as soon as I have internet access of this computer. Last year in Katie’s mod I got a shaky wireless connection, but this year, nothing. In almost ever other way the new mod is nicer. It has a cathederal ceiling in the living room and much more common space. Katie and Chris’ double is really nice. Two standard twin beds pushed together make a much larger bed than I expected. I could easier lie horizontally across it without my legs hanging over the edge. Katie’s room is also home to an amazing mouse which lights up and changes colors every minute or so. The only downside of this mod is that 7 people live here, and apparently only 2 of them ever do any cleaning. And they are away right now for fall break, so the state of the living room/dining room/kitchen area is revolting and chaotic that makes it me anxious. I considered cleaning up the kitchen up, doing some dishes, throwing away trash, but then I decided to think of it as a mental challenge. It’s not my home, I am only here for a day and a half, and in a lot of ways it is less distracting than my room at Brown if only because none of the clutter everywhere is mine and none of my usual diversions are around (suitemates, internet, knitting, warm bed and duvet, etc.)

I got here yesterday evening with McComas and Patrick. Amherst is not a very long drive from Providence but there was a lot of traffic, probably because it is a holiday weekend and we were driving during rush hour anyway. (Although I am never sure how rush hour works once you get out of a city. Does it not exist? How do you figure out which direction it is going?)

We went to Amherst (College) first and met one of Patrick’s friends from freshman year. I have already forgotten his name, shamefully. We had dinner with him at a African cafe. It was really good. Some combination of being hot not warm food, and eating later than usual so I was really hungry.

After that we left Patrick and McComas drove me to Hampshire. I didn’t do much last night besides talking and hanging out before falling asleep, but it is both really good to see Katie and good to get away from Providence for the weekend to get some perspective. The drive here was especially good. Driving on a highway is something that associate with being home and with Mummy and feeling less restricted than at Brown. It was a very scenic drive. All the trees have turned red and orange and yellow and afternoon light was hitting the leaves and I remembered how much I like autumn.

I haven’t written for awhile. What has been going on, before getting here? I am making the poetically just move from Sovereign Bank to Citizens Bank after the last straw, when I went in person to my local branch to try to reset my online password. After a pointless game of phone tag and another in person visit to the branch, I finally got a new password. I walked straight from the bank to the SciLi to test out the password and…it didn’t work. So that’s that. Sovereign Bank is very conveniently located, but now I ride my bike around away two extra blocks over is no big deal. Also once I set up direct deposit and can view my balance online, I won’t have to go to the stupid bank multiple times a day to see how much money I have, like I have been doing for the past few weeks.

tags: amherst, friends, globetrotting

And I’m home. In the past couple of days I have spent more time driving and in a car than I ever have before. Yesterday I visited McComas for the day. On the way I decided to avoid tolls and take Rt. 9 from Amherst Center all the way to Chestnut Hill. It was slow at times and frustrating because everytime the road went through a town the speed limit went down to 30 mph, but it was also very scenic and I feel like I really know that part of Massachusetts, better than a lot of places in Maryland (Eastern Shore, south of College Park, western Apalachia, etc).

We saw Harry Potter on IMAX and then got huge portions of Chinese food. She gave me the t-shirt she made for me. It has a photo of Barry Gibb on it, next to the text “avocado poopsicle.”

I took Mass. Pike back without any directions! Well, McComas told me that I had to get on 95 N and then west on Mass. Pike, but I didn’t have anything written down. Once I exited the highway I just followed signs to UMass and crossed my fingers because it was dark and I didn’t recognize anything. I took a few wrong turns but got back to Hampshire eventually.

Today was the drive home. I left Amherst the same time I left home on Friday. This time I hit traffic, heading into Hartford during rush hour, and a few random spots on 84 West. I still got home at 3, so the traffic must not have set me back as much as it felt like at the time.

I’m exhausted now and glad for no more driving for a long time. But home isn’t so great. I’m relieved that on Sunday it’s back to school. Eric is back but classes at GWU have already started, so he’ll probably be pretty busy.

Things I learned on this trip:
- The closest IMAX theatre to Chestnut Hill is a crazy place in the middle of a Natick furniture store called Jordan’s. According to Chris, Jordan’s is a chain and all of their stores have in house entertainment, for example, mini roller coasters.
- Also, this particular IMAX theatre had bathroom stalls with two way mirrors, which I had previously only encountered in some fancy restuarant in Boston.
- The state speed limit in New York is 55 mph, except I could have sworn at other points in New York the speed limit was 65 mph. So, either the signs are confusing or I was confused about where I was.
- Chris is a good cook.
- I make McComas’ dog go crazy.
- You don’t have to pay a toll for the Tappan Zee Bridge on the way home.
- Getting over the Delaware Memorial Bridge does not mean that you will be home in an hour.
- Circles are called rotarys in Massachusetts.
- Salt on the windshield is both irritating and dangerous.
- If you leave a gallon of water and three bottles of tea in the car for two days during January in Western Massachusetts, they will freeze. And so will the trunk and the back doors.
- The New Jersey Turnpike is the most boring road I have ever driven on.
- There is more than one 495, and everyone else besides me already knew this.
- I probably know my way around the Amherst area better than Mike now.
- Cruise control has a purpose, and for a couple hours there I really wished our car had it.
- Probably a lot more things but I am too tired to remember.
- I wonder what it would be like to work as a toll collector?
- It was a good idea to go on this trip. I would have been lost at home with everyone including Mike away or back at school and Eric still in Fort Lauderdale.

tags: amherst

It was gray and rainy yesterday. It started hailing in the evening and I woke up to about 7 inches of snow. I got my winter weather wish. I took some pictures, I should post them later.

Last night Chris cooked dinner and it was really good. I don’t know anyone else my age who can cook that well.

I decided to sleep on the couch last night instead of folding out the mattress after a successful nap in front of the TV while Chris was cooking. I slept much better, I think I wasn’t used to sleeping on such a huge bed. Sleeping on a couch fees like sleeping on a three sided crib. It’s cozy.

Tomorrow I am going to see McComas in Brookline, if all goes well. It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow and I think the roads will be cleared by then. I’ve already seen some Hampshire plows driving around, and it hasn’t even stopped snowing yet.

I think I’ll clean the dishes now before Katie and Chris wake up, make myself useful. Then I noticed that Chris has Katamari Damancy here, among other PlayStation games. I think it’s a sign…that I should play them.

tags: amherst

The drive wasn’t as bad as I thought. I left at 7 and got here at about 3. I didn’t get lost. In Danbury I got onto 84 West instead of East by mistake, but I realized it as I was doing it and just exited as soon as possible and turned around. I also missed Rt 116 in Amherst and instead followed signs to Hampshire, which was confusing at first because I knew I was going a different way than Katie had told me, but at the last minute when I was about to panic and call her I came up to a huge sign that said HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE Bay Road Entrance. Phew. From there I recognized campus enough to find her mod.

It was foggy for almost the entire trip until I got past Hartford. It was a fun drive anyway. I like the idea of driving through and seeing states like Connecticut which before I have only seen from the air. Most of the time I was either in Connecticut or New Jersey, briefly interrupted by New York.

It’s warm here. It’s nice to be somewhere that isn’t home. Hanging out with Katie and Chris is great even though we sleep at different times and I am a third wheel. On Monday it’s off to Brookline to visit McComas, and then Tuesday I drive back home.

tags: amherst

It appears that someone has super-glued the lock of one of our two bathroom stalls open. Really funny, guys.

There is nothing like taking a nice hot early morning shower while listening to someone vomit in the functioning stall across the way. I’m really hoping that they are sick and not bulimic.

The rest of the weekend in Amherst was great. Saturday was beautiful, especially at Hampshire. Katie and I wandered around campus and I took a lot of photos. It was very warm. Later I went back to Amherst and hung out with Mike for the afternoon. We watched a “Made” marathon on MTV. Went out to dinner with his parents at a fancy Italian restaurant in Northampton.

Watched many episodes of Law & Order SVU with Mike back at his dorm and then played a game of Scrabble with him, David and Steve. Lost badly. Tried some dried mango. Forgot to get the Go! Team album from David. Mike is going to burn it and give it to me at Thanksgiving I think.

The trip back on Sunday was a lot better than previous Sunday-trip-backs. McComas and I left at noon. It was the first time I have seen the surrounding area there in the daylight. The trees and leaves were beautiful even though it was misty outside. Traffic was a lot better on the Mass Pike than before. We got to South Station and caught the Bonanza Bus back to Providence seconds before it was about to leave. I read the introduction of The Road to Serfdom and then fell asleep.

Walked back to campus (up up up the hill!) with McComas. Got tea and a panini at the Gate and then did some photo uploading and reading and watched some of “The Matrix Reloaded” on TBS.

It was a good weekend. Only one more weekend until Thanksgiving! Maybe I can make it a good (non-boring) one.

tags: amherst, brown, friends, mike, photography

McComas and I arrived here safely. It was so nice to have company on the trip! The car was cool too. I got to see the lovely community of Brookline, MA, and her neighborhood which is technically called Chestnut Hills. It reminded me a lot of Chevy Chase and home…it didn’t look anything like Daniel and Tessa’s really old neighborhood in Cambridge.

I met her friend Ben Dickman who goes to Amherst. He was less intimidating than expected. In fact, he was awesome. He showed us his single in Moore. Its ceiling was so high there that if his bed was lofted all the way up, he probably still could have stood up on it without hitting his head. We played a few games of Boggle. Then Snatch, which I only just learned the other day and am horrible at because I think about words the wrong way. Shapes, not combinations of letters. I teamed up with McComas but we still lost every game. It was fun. I was tired.

Katie and Chris drove over and I showed them Mike’s ridiculously nice dorm and the psychadelic bathrooms. Then Katie, Chris and I went to Subway for dinner. Mike walked over after a little bit. We went back to Hampshire and heard a student band play covers of Len’s “Steal My Sunshine” and the Gwen Stefani song that goes “I ain’t no holla back girl.” They were very impressive, although we got there late and missed all their original songs.

We starting watching some Russian movie called Solaris in Katie’s mod’s living room. I fell asleep. Mike was tired too. I don’t think Katie would have minded if he slept over, but he decided to go back to Amherst. I was so tired at that point that I didn’t really mind, and he probably would have slept badly too because that always seems to happen in strange places for him.

I just woke up. It was 630, but I don’t really care. Katie’s room makes me so happy, because it is so clearly hers even though she is not here and also it is a SINGLE. For the first time in weeks I got to go to sleep in complete darkness and then wake up whenever I felt like it and turn on all the lights and open the blinds all the way. I got so excited I just took a

whoa

I just looked out the window and at first I thought I was seeing the back of a squirrel with a really huge bushy tail but it was actually a marmot or something! Do they have marmots here? What else could it be? A beaver, maybe? I’m so out of touch with nature.
Edit 11/7/05: Christopher B. Dino tells me I saw a groundhog. Further research suggests groundhogs are a type of marmot. So I was partially right! I don’t know where I was getting beaver from.

Anyway, I got so excited I just took a ton of pictures of her room and am going to make a panorama and post it here when I am done.

tags: amherst, animals, friends, photography